005 - Introduction to STAGE 1

The title of this ministry course “Biblical Investigations of the Koran” reflects the fact that we start with the Bible and its world, to find out how the Koran has modified its content. This means that we accept the Bible as the foundation of our life, our ministry and of our world, and on this foundation alone we investigate the Koran with its competing worldview. We are aware that this is not the only approach to investigating the Bible and the Koran. In the future final stage four of this ministry course (Units 18 to 20) we plan to briefly touch on three competing approaches: Rabbinical approaches, Muslim approaches and Academic approaches.

This practical guide can be used in multiple ways. Here are some examples:

a) As a textbook for a Christian seminary course to prepare ministers serving Christ in the world of Islam;

b) As training material to equip servants of Christ in their ministry among Muslims;

c) As a reference manual on the Bible in view of the Koran for pastors, missionaries, students and active church members; or

d) As literature that can be given to Muslim seekers to help them discover details of how biblical content was modified in the Koran and thus get exposure to the biblical original.

We now begin with a preview of the whole course (Unit 01) and a first general comparison of the Bible and the Koran as books in order to discover the inner limits of our field of inquiry (Unit 02).